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    10 Stories About Nothing
    10 Stories About Nothing
    10 Stories About Nothing
    Ebook77 pages58 minutes

    10 Stories About Nothing

    By Alida van den Bos

    ()

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    About this ebook

    The book is a collection of short stories some funny and some romance.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherReadOnTime BV
    Release dateApr 9, 2015
    ISBN9781742845234
    10 Stories About Nothing
    Author

    Alida van den Bos

    Born in the Netherlands, Alida lives on the Central Coast, near Newcastle, Australia. Her love of writing has been a lifelong pursuit leading her to become a novelist ten years ago. Alida emigrated to Australia in 1959 with her husband and two children where adventure beckoned and the family tried opal digging in Coober Pedy and Lightning Ridge. A move to midwestern New South Wales town of Orange where her third child was born and with her husband started a horse stud, aptly named Running Hoofs, leading to success in local and metropolitan racecourses.

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      Book preview

      10 Stories About Nothing - Alida van den Bos

      10 Stories About Nothing

      Alida Van Den Bos

      10 Stories About Nothing

      Copyright © 2014 Alida Van Den Bos

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Smashwords Edition

      The information, views, opinions and visuals expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the publisher. The publisher disclaims any liabilities or responsibilities whatsoever for any damages, libel or liabilities arising directly or indirectly from the contents of this publication.

      A copy of this publication can be found in the National Library of Australia.

      ISBN:  978-1-742845-23-4 (pbk.)

      Published by Book Pal

      www.bookpal.com.au

      Contents

      Story 1    Your Majesty

      Story 2    Robin and the Holy Grail

      Story 3    West In Peace

      Story 4    The Butler Did It

      Story 5    Lasseters Secret

      Romance

      Story 6    A Strange Encounter

      Story 7    Girlfriend

      Story 8    Ode to Humphry

      Australian, Colloquial Language by Angela Nicholls

      Story 9    Bluey’s Revenge

      Story 10    Back o’ Bourke

      Christmas

      Story 11    Santa’s Encounter

      Your Majesty

      Majesty 1

      He was a magnificent chestnut horse standing 16.2 hands high, bred in the truest of blue blooded fashion, his father Aristocrat the great racehorse by Poseidon, his dam

      Elizabeth III by Emperor. No wonder he was called Your Majesty.

      ‘There you are Your Majesty, a royal breakfast for you,’ the young stableboy said as he put the mighty chestnut in the stable.

      ‘Thank you my boy and don’t forget to bring me a juicy carrot for morning tea,’ Your Majesty reminded him. Ah, how good it felt to be home again after this morning’s work-out at the track, ‘I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.’ What am I saying.’ Then he grinned, isn’t it funny how soon you catch on with the human language?’

      He’d had a great time at the track that morning, mostly because Princess Moonlight was training again after a well-earned rest. She’d told him about all the V.I.H [very important horses] she’d met in the spelling paddocks, and he told her all about the Melbourne Cup he was going to win the next day.

      His jockey, Ray Higginbottom, had taken him for his morning work-out. If only that black cat had not crossed my path, my day would have been perfect, he thought. He considered the black cat a bad omen.

      He shrugged, it was bad to worry just before a big race. He should be happy because he had everything he wanted, the best stable in the block, all mods and cons, a septic toilet, electric lights, fresh straw every day, and even a safe to store his money and insurance papers.

      Majesty 2

      The service was first class, the food was good, what more could he want? A television set maybe so he could watch the Daily Double on his days off. But if I place a bet with Bill Watergate at 6-4, which isn’t bad considering I’m a certainty, I have enough to buy ten sets.

      ‘Oh colt, here comes my neighbour, Lady Penelope. She’s a walking talking machine, nags me all the time, ‘Your Majesty, your mane is on two sides, your tail is rumpled, your forelock is a mess. It’s not befitting for a horse of your breeding to look like that. Your appearance should be immaculate,’ and on and on she rattles.

      She must have learned the big words from her crossword puzzles, he thought.

      ‘Good morning Your Majesty,’ she began with a big smile, ‘You look well today.’

      ‘Good morning Pen, so do you.’

      ‘You know this crossword I’m doing? All I need is just one more word.’

      Your Majesty was willing to help. ‘All right, how many letters?’

      ‘It’s a four letter word starting with…’

      ‘Oh no,’ Your Majesty interrupted, ‘You know I don’t swear.’

      ‘Look,’ Pen was getting impatient, ‘It’s an ordinary word starting with h, meaning the chief horse in a race.’

      ‘Ah,’ Your Majesty thought for a moment, ‘what about hero?’

      ‘That’s it, that’s it.’ Pen was elated, ‘Thank you, now I can send it in.’

      Turning, Your Majesty mused. Winning The Melbourne Cup is worth a lot of money to many people. But what do I get out of it? An extra carrot perhaps? It’s not fair, not fair at all after me doing all the hard work.

      Majesty 3

      Maybe us horses should get together and get on strike, that’s what humans do, and they generally get their way. I’ll ask old Boobs, have a horse-to-horse talk with him. Boobs was his neighbour on the left. His name was really Boobalong, but everybody called him Boobs for short. Because he was the oldest horse in the establishment everyone thought he knew everything.

      Although lately he’d become quite forgetful and began to jumble his words. For instance the manager’s name was Bob Stockman and Boobs

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